I am Randy Mustang
by Tetsuya Amanuma the Alchemist
Summary: Randy Mustang is the young son of Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. He's brave, a good big brother, a prodigy...and only a child. But how will Randy be linked to the drama arising in Amestris and the mysterious powerful hero, the "Shadow of Amestris."?
1. Chapter 1: Where it all began

It was only way to protect them, Roy thought as the car pulled up to the Rockbell house. They would be safer here, and besides people were starting to get suspicious. Roy walked up to meet Pinako in front of the house, carrying an infant in one arm and a small black haired three-year old in the other, both sleeping. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of them." Pinako said and Winry nodded in agreement as she walked over. Roy handed the boys reluctantly to Winry but as the car pulled away he could feel nothing but regret.

Nearly two years later...

Edward cursed as he ran to keep up with the little boy running ahead of him. Edward's own small son was spending time at his grandfather Hohenheim's place. The boy Edward was currently chasing was very young but as Ed ran furiously to keep up he thought the little one was too goddamn fast. "Aw c'mon Randy! Winry's gonna kill me if I don't bring you home." The boy paused for a moment, turning to look at Ed with a smile on his face. Randall Mustang looked exactly like Roy Mustang in miniature, Ed thought the boy had to be the spitting image of the Flame Alchemist at that age. "But I wanna play more Edward!" the little boy cried out, still half-smiling. Edward was torn between the choice of it, despite the fact he could usually not be convinced by a mere child, the Fullmetal Alchemist could not bear to say no the boy. He had an astounding ability to charm people and his voice sounded like the voice of a young angel.

"If Winry wakes up and finds us gone she's gonna tear me to shreds!" Edward exclaimed, waiting for the little boy to stop and say something. When he did stop Edward rushed forward and picked him up. The little boy smiled up at Ed still and Ed messed up his hair, feeling slightly flustered and not because of the boy. It was just downright sad that the little boy didn't know his own mother or father; Edward himself as a child had been pained by his father's absence. Edward could recall the pain that something like that had caused to him and Alphonse. Ed sighed. Time to take this little guy home. The only home he had ever known...the Rockbell home.

Alphonse had woken up to check on Den when he heard crying. "And that would be Rory's cue." Al said cheerfully. Al liked Rory Mustang. Nearly two years ago when Rory first came here as an infant Al was still soul bound to a suit of armor. Even then Rory had liked Alphonse, which would have brought the tears to his eyes. Al was fifteen now, and back in his old body. Though he still looked like how he had when he had lost his body in the first place, Alphonse did not care. He was just glad to be able to feel warmth again.

While Edward was usually responsible for watching the older of the two little boys...if the word responsible ever applied to Ed in the first place, Alphonse took great pride in being responsible for the younger brother. Already he and Rory had something in common. Rory was two years old and calmer than his older brother Randy. Rory had fair hair, a hair color similar to that of Second Lieutenant Havoc's. While Randy possessed the eyes of the Flame Alchemist himself, Rory shared his mother's brown eyes. Rory's hair was not very neat but short and it stuck up; but despite the wildness of it, Rory's hair was very pleasant to the touch. Alphonse thought Rory's hair felt like the fur of a small soft animal. Rory was a quiet but kind boy and very intelligent. Alphonse noticed the striking differences in the two boys to each other. Randy was quite similar to their father while Rory was anything but. Rory was also very obedient and also a dog lover, but the boy seemed to have compassion for all types of animals.

Alphonse walked upstairs and into the spare room which had been converted into a room for the boys. As soon as Rory saw Alphonse he stopped crying at once. "Al!" the little boy cried happily and reached his arms out towards Al. Al smiled and picked the little boy up. Suddenly realization washed over him. It was Randy's fifth birthday today! Alphonse went down the stairs as fast as he could without being at an unsafe speed, little Rory still in his arms. "Winry it's..."

"I know!" Winry interjected frantically. "We're baking the cake right now. Have Rory watch TV and help us with the house. I cannot believe we forgot and I invited everybody too!" Winry cried. Al could see he had no choice but to help or face Winry while she was in hysterics, which was never a good idea. After Al put Sesame Street on the TV and Rory watched intently. Winry shoved a box of party decorations in his arms. When Ed came walking up to the house with Randy, Winry yelled at him to keep playing outside and to stay away from the house. Ed shrugged and he and Randy left to play some more while Al hung up a birthday banner. The backyard was set up by Al and Winry with all sorts of fun games and even a bounce house that Maes Hughes had managed to get them. Just as Al was thinking about Hughes there was a knock at their door, which Al had to rush to answer. Sure enough it was Maes himself, with his wife Gracia and daughter Elicia in tow. Five year old Elicia smiled at Al and waved and while Hughes held Elicia, Gracia held a small black-haired boy similar in every which way to Hughes. "You brought Michael too?" Alphonse asked and Hughes nodded happily. Alphonse let them in and Gracia placed Michael on the couch beside Rory; the two of them were the same exact age and best friends.

"So where's the birthday boy?" Hughes asked merrily. "He's outside with Ed...we couldn't afford ruining the surprise." Pinako explained. "Daddy I want to play with Randy too!" Elicia cried out quickly. "Well I guess we're going outside too. See you all in a bit." Hughes said with a smile, escorting his beloved daughter outside with pure joy. Gracia supervised Rory and Michael and Al couldn't thank her enough. The house was finally fully decorated and the cake cooking when Scar showed up with his own son, Sagan. Sagan was five years old as well and while Al was still not entirely sure as to who Sagan's mother was, Al knew it could be anyone's guess. Sagan had longer and somewhat thicker hair than his father, which tapered down in a tail that ended just above the collar of his shirt. His hair was white as snow and he had his father's dark complexion and red eyes too. Sagan was a calm little boy but not above playing tag or a sport with the other kids. Scar dropped Sagan off with the other kids and returned inside to help. Al crept away to the phone for a moment. He dialed a number, a very important one. The Flame Alchemist himself answered. "Bring Lieutenant Hawkeye and come to Winry's house. You should be here." Alphonse said quickly before he hung up.

Edward and Maes Hughes played with the kids a distance from the house, but close enough to see the house. They were playing with Randy, Elicia and Sagan when another car pulled up and a muscular man and a small boy exited the car, which then pulled away. "I know that figure anywhere." Ed said. It was indeed Alex Louis Armstrong and his four year old son Sammy. More guests arrived by the minute. Next Jean Havoc and his sons Jacob and Jaden arrived. Jacob went to play with Randy also but Jaden joined the other two and three year old children inside. Denny Brosh arrived and Ed smiled, as he saw Maria exit the car two, each of them carrying a child. David was four and Derek was two so neither of Denny and Maria's boys joined Ed, Hughes and the older children. Heymans Breda, Vato Falman and Kain Fuery also arrived soon after. May Chang and Xiao Mei arrived, followed by Ling Yao, Lan Fan and their twin infants Weizhen and Ru.

Within ten minutes more guests arrived. Mrs. Bradley came with little Selim, who was a friend of Rory's. Sig and Izumi arrived as well, and just behind them came the Tringham brothers and it seemed that was all who was coming. Alphonse was sent out to tell Ed and Hughes to bring the kids in. "Hey kids it's birthday time!" was all Hughes had to yell for a stampede of kids to run to the house, followed closely by Ed and Hughes himself. Randy lagged behind the group, interested in a car that pulled up. Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye got out of the car.

Roy was a bit nervous. His sons were here somewhere. Riza took in a deep breath. Roy walked forward a few steps and froze. There was a boy to his right staring at him and Riza. Riza noticed him too, a small boy that looked like a child version of Roy.

Randy stared at these strangers. He could swear that they were familiar and important to him somehow. "Randy!" A voice cried out. It was Alphonse. "How'd you wander off? Come on Randy it's almost time for the cake. Oh General Mustang it's good too see you and Lieutenant Hawkeye here too. Come on in." Al said, taking the five year old by the hand. Roy held Riza's hand for a moment and then they followed Alphonse, closely watched by Randy who kept staring at them. Riza knew it...Randy had to be theirs.

The adults talked happily but Roy and Riza kept glancing towards where the kids were playing in turns. Roy turned to look again just in time to see a small fair haired boy fall off the couch, and not feet first either. The little boy landed with a thump on his head. There was silence for about two seconds before a piercing scream filled the house. Roy rushed over and picked the little boy up, examining his head which was thankfully uninjured. The little boy looked curiously at him, no longer screaming but tears still coming out of his eyes. Roy was surprised. This fair haired boy had Riza's eyes. The little boy grabbed onto Roy and started crying. Everyone seemed to understand that Roy was handling the situation and continued what they had been doing. A shadow spread across them. Roy looked up and saw Randy staring at him. "My brother likes you." Randy said, in a very sweet angelic sounding voice. Roy stared at the boy now. Randy grinned back. "Thank you for helping my brother." Randy said, very sweet and sincere. "Uh..." was all Roy could say. Randy walked over and hugged Roy. "I like you too." Randy said quietly.

In his own head Randy was wondering about the man. He was very familiar and Randy himself thought that the man looked like him. As he hugged the man a thought crossed his mind very rapidly...that he didn't want him to leave ever. And the lady too...Randy liked her and she was very pretty and her eyes reminded Randy of Rory's eyes. Pinako and Winry had once told them that no one in that house was their real mommy or daddy but this never occurred to him.

It was time for the cake now and everyone gathered around to where Randy sat at his table. The kids were seated variously, with younger kids at one end of the table and the kids Randy's age sat near him. His friends Elicia, Sagan and Jacob sat closest to him. Randy grinned at everyone, scratching the back of his head in a way that every adult in the vicinity seemed to find irresistible. "Okay get ready!" Hughes cried out, he was the child's birthday expert in the area. Once the candles were lit Hughes let out a "One...Two...Three!" and then everyone began singing. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Randy. Happy birthday to you!" Some of the younger kids were a bit behind but everyone sang. Randy grinned and Riza was strikingly and forcibly reminded of Roy. "Randy when you blow your candles you make a wish and it will come true!" Elicia whispered loudly to him. "Oh okay." he said. He paused with a serious look on his face and his eyes closed for a moment before he opened them and tried to blow out his candles. He took in a really deep breath and finally managed to blow the candles out all the way on his own. Then everyone had cake.


	2. Chapter 2: Birthdays have aftermaths too

It was pretty much fun and games after that and everyone was just playing various games. Riza was watching the kids playing soccer when she noticed a small fair-haired boy smiling at her. She also noticed he had _her_ eyes. She sat down and the little boy walked over. "Hi." he said very quietly. "Hi there." she said. The little boy moved close to her. "Do you know my mommy?" he asked.

Riza paused...she didn't quite know how to answer this. "Well...yes." she said after a moment's hesitation. The little boy's eyes widened and he looked melancholy. "Can you tell my mommy to come back. Me and Randy want her and daddy to come back to us. Tell my mommy and daddy that Randy and me love them no matter what. They belong here with us." the fair-haired boy said. Tears started coming out of his eyes. "A-a-and I...I want my mommy and daddy!" he sobbed. It was like someone had taken a sledgehammer to Riza's heart.

Roy was sitting down, noticing the kids playing soccer too, but from a different angle when Randy walked up to him. "My little brother is sad." Randy said to him. Roy gulped. "He cries because he wants our mommy and daddy every single night." Roy felt his heart sink horribly. "I cry too...but I'm really quiet and I wait for everyone to leave before I cry. If Rory sees me cry too then he'll never stop crying. But I have to hide it and be strong for him." Randy explained. Roy just couldn't hold back. "Randy..." he said, but Randy cut him off. "I don't want you to leave too. I like you." Randy said, hugging Roy.

Riza had calmed the little fair haired boy down. "What's your name?" she asked him. "Rory." he said. "Come play with me!" Rory said happily. So she let him drag her off. Rory took great pride in showing her all of his toys and treasured belongings.

The party was finally coming to a close. Everyone had left and it was dark out. Randy had spent the rest of his birthday hanging on to Roy. "I have to leave." Roy told him. Randy frowned. "No..." he said. "Randy I have to." Roy said. "Take me with you...please. I'll give you anything." Randy pleaded. "I'm sorry Randy." Roy said. Randy hugged Roy and started crying. "Don't cry." Roy said, trying to comfort him. And then when he could do nothing else he left. He and Riza got in their car. It was nightfall. As the car pulled away, Randy chased after the car and it was not until he was miles away from the Rockbell home and lost that he could no longer follow the car. Randy flopped down on the side of the road, feeling useless and he curled up and cried right there and then. And he fell asleep from pure exhaustion.

Alphonse sighed. After an hour and a half's hard effort he had gotten Rory to go to sleep. Rory had eventually cried himself to sleep and Alphonse figured it would be easy to put Randy to sleep. He walked into the living room, expecting to see Randy watching TV but he saw a sleeping Ed instead. "Ed!" Al whispered. "Hmm?" Ed asked, half-asleep. "Where's Randy?" Al asked. "What are you talking about...he's right here." Ed mumbled, patting a large teddy bear on the head. "Ed...that's a teddy bear..." Al said, worried. "WHAT?" Ed cried, now awake. "God damnit!" Ed yelled, seeing it really was only a bear. Then both of the boys noticed the open front door.

As soon as Winry heard the words "Randy" and "missing" in the same sentence, she flipped out. "How could you fall asleep!" she cried, bashing Ed as hard as she could on his head. "D'ow! What the hell was that for?" Ed cried, rubbing his head in pain. Al had an idea. "Den!" Al cried, whistling afterwards. Den ran over to him, sniffing. Leaving the old married couple to look out for Rory and settle their disputes, Al showed Den the shirt that Randy had worn only yesterday. Den barked and took off down the road into the night, with Al hot on her heels.

Den nearly leaped when Alphonse had cried her name out and whistled. Den was a smart dog and she knew something was wrong. When Al showed her Randy's shirt she knew they were searching for him. She had done the same before when Rory had accidentally fallen into the laundry basket and everyone was looking for him. Den smelled a trail in the young master's scent and she took off down the road, barking and wanting to find him...hoping to find him alive.

Al had brought a flashlight and was glad. It was very dark out right now. The young boy was holding his breath in. Den barked very loudly and sped up quickly and Al forced himself to run faster. Den stopped and was sniffing something. _"Oh please be alive!"_ Al thought desperately. Randy was motionless and Al looked on, frozen and absolutely crushed. Then a snore reached him. "Oh...he's sleeping." Al said, relieved. Al lifted the boy in his arms. "Take us home Den." Al said and Den obeyed. She was always a smart dog after all.

Winry was worrying herself into a coma when Al arrived, carrying Randy. "He's okay!" She cried. "Shh! He's asleep." Al hissed back. And so he was. Randy slept peacefully in Alphonse's arms until they got him home. Then he slept on his bed. And at this time, somewhere else, Roy realized he had left his coat there. When Randy woke up at midnight to get a glass of water he noticed Roy's coat. It felt like a childish thing to do, but Randy took Roy's coat back up with him to sleep. He used it as a makeshift blanket but hidden under his real blanket. He was able to drift into a more comfortable sleep than he ever had before.

But then it came to him again. Every night Randy had a nightmare. The nightmare itself made no sense to him. He would see all the people he cared about. Then his mind would just fill with red. Then he would scream and wake up in cold sweat and on occassion he would also run a fever. Tonight it was really bad. Roy was pulled away by a dark something and he saw all red.

Randy screamed and woke up, feeling feverish. Randy ran into the bathroom, straight to the toilet and he threw up violently, his little body shaking. When he finished he dropped to his knees and then he hit the ground and everything was spinning. He could see Alphonse, Edward and Winry coming towards him in slow motion and it sounded as if there were four Alphonses and Edwards saying the same thing at different times. Randy's fingers barely scraped the ground and everything went black.

Alphonse sat in one of those bench seats in the hospital. Little Rory sat beside him, eyes red from crying and holding his teddy in a firm hug. Alphonse was very worried about Randy. Something was very wrong. Randy had first reported that dream to Edward years ago but never had it reached this magnitude. Edward went to the phone at once, where he proceeded to phone Hughes first. Hughes showed up with Gracia and Elicia, Gracia was dressed but Hughes and Elicia were in their pajamas still. Michael had been left in the care of a family friend. Gracia was a super mom. She had brought pillows and blankets and thus Elicia fell asleep in Hughes' lap and Gracia had little Rory asleep in hers. Alphonse tried to swallow but found it hard as he walked into Randy's room.

"Jacket..." Randy was saying and Al knew at once what it was the little boy was talking about. Al called Izumi and Sig Curtis next. "Oh and Roy's coat should be in Randy's bedroom. If you could bring it that would really help us." Al said and they complied. Sig turned the coat over to Al, and Al in turn gave it to Randy, who was able to peacefully fall asleep. Izumi and Sig joined Randy's worried loved ones in the designated waiting room, which was very large and contained only two others.

Alphonse went to the phone while Sig and Izumi watched Randy and he made a call to Scar, who promised to arrive. Sure enough Scar did arrive, with a red-eyed and tousle-haired Sagan. Gracia gave Scar a pillow and blanket and Sagan too fell asleep, in his father's lap. Alphonse also called Alex Louis Armstrong, who promised a visit to Randy tomorrow. He called everyone else on the list but Havoc arrived alone, having left his boys in the care of a loved one. Ed was the one to beat Al to the phone to call Roy and tell him about this.

Roy and Riza arrived quickly, Riza remained with Gracia and Hughes to watch the kids while Roy went right into Randy's room. He noticed his coat with the little boy. "The attack he suffered tonight could have killed him. Your boy was very lucky to survive. Whatever he has is not contagious of course and he seems better but he has to stay here for a while." The doctor explained. "Put him in a room I can stay with him in." Roy demanded. The doctor complied of course. The little boy was quietly moved to a room with a bigger bed, couches and a TV. "Lieutenant Hawkeye. You are under strict orders from me to stay with Rory and watch over him." Mustang added. Riza agreed.

Roy went to Randy's bed and just kneeled in front of it. He reached out and held Randy's hand for a moment, before he let go in his anguished state. But Randy was barely conscious and knew. Randy grabbed Roy's arm, hugging it tightly. "Randy." Roy said. "Yeah." the boy muttered sleepily. "I'm sorry that I left." Roy replied. "It's okay. You're here now and you never have to leave again." Randy said. It was silent for a few minutes. "My wish came true." The little boy mumbled.

Eventually the doctor told the others that Randy was okay. Winry insisted that they spend the night at her place so they could all go to visit Randy tomorrow together. When Rory went to sleep, Riza followed him and was the one to put him to sleep. And Rory didn't shed a tear.

The next day everyone visited Randy, who was ready to go home that night. When they brought Randy home, he was a very happy boy. "Can I have left over birthday cake?" Randy asked, as they had made a pretty big cake. "No." Pinako said, but no one really noticed her sneak the little boy a slice of chocolate cake after dinner. Randy pulled Roy up to his room. "You're staying here." Randy said. Roy sighed. "Fine." he said, almost smiling. That night Randy didn't have to sleep with Roy's coat, he had Roy actually there with him. Not to mention the boy's race car bed was large and comfortable. When they were in Randy's room playing with his hero action figures Randy looked up at Roy. "Can you be my daddy?" he asked Roy. "No." Roy said. The five year old looked up at him, dismayed. "Why not?" he asked. "Wait here." Roy said, leaving the room. Randy stayed, wanting to follow Roy to make sure he wasn't going to disappear but also wanting to listen to him.

Roy made a phone call to Fuhrer Grumman. "Grumman...Riza and I want to take care of our sons. They need us." Roy said. A pause. "No forget the rules, I'm staying with Randy no matter what." Another pause. "Thank you." He went back to Randy. As soon as Randy saw Roy in the doorway he ran over and hugged him. "Randy." Roy said, and the five year old nodded to show he was listening. "I'm your real dad." Roy said. Randy hugged Roy, even tighter than any other time he had before. "We have to tell Rory! He wants to know!" Randy cried out, running to Rory's bedroom next door. "Rory this is our real daddy!" the five year old cried, running Roy into the room behind him. Rory reached out of his crib and so Roy picked the two year old and held him. "I knew you'd come back daddy!" Rory cried. "Hi mommy." Randy said to Riza, hugging her. It was a very happy reunion.

They moved into a house not far from where the new Elric home stood. The new Elric house really was the old Elric house brought back by alchemy for Ed and his kids. Which made it better for Randy. Randy was excited of course, he loved Resembool. "Daddy this is my favorite place in the world!" the five year old had proclaimed. Of course this made the boys happy also because Sagan lived next door and not far from their house was also where Havoc lived, and near that was where Mrs. Bradley and Selim lived.

That day, while they moved into the home Randy went to stay at Sagan's house and Rory went to Selim's. Randy sat in Sagan's bedroom. The boy had his room painted in a very soothing green and he had all sorts of cool toys. Sagan also had a lot of books and was quite intelligent for his age. "I'm excited Randy." Sagan said, playing with one of his favorite toy race cars. "Why?" Randy asked, surprised. "We're going to go to school next year!" Sagan cried. Although Randy had no idea what a school was he nodded. "You know we get to eat lunch and play and learn there. It sounds like a bunch of fun!" Sagan added for Randy's benefit. "They have a whole big old playground just for us and they feed us yummy food like graham crackers and apple juice. And they read us books during story time." Sagan added. Randy was awed. "Wow that sounds like fun!" he cried. "Of course it's fun." Sagan added, grinning.

Sagan led Randy outside. "Come on Randy. I found a cool place to play." Sagan cried. Roy noticed them running past and smiled. At the Bradley residence Mrs. Bradley was giving Selim and Rory a snack. "Thank you very much Mrs. Bradley." Rory said, he had very good manners. He enjoyed Mrs. Bradley's chocolate pudding. Selim was Rory's best friend so after snack they put on play explorer clothes and went outside. "Maybe if we're lucky we'll find a lion!" Selim cried. "Or a tiger!" Rory added. "Or both!" Selim cried and they laughed. Selim raised his binoculars. "Look Rory!" he said pointing. "It's an elephant!" Rory looked up and saw Selim was pointing at a tree that rather looked like an elephant. The boys practically played like that all day. They were a whole happy family once again. And that night those boys got tucked in by their real parents. And neither of them shed a tear.


	3. Chapter 3: Chip off the old block

About 3 years later...

Randy was now eight years old. He was a brilliant student but at the same time, disciplined in his own way. Randy had secretly been learning alchemy from Edward Elric ever since he was four and he planned to keep the fruit of his alchemical knowledge hidden to his parents. His father was young and strong as ever and Randy was becoming a chip off the old block. Five year old Rory was an alchemical genius as well. Rory, being the same age as Edward's son Eric. Eric's younger brother by a year, Edmund was also learning alchemy but their younger sister Nina was only two and therefore too young to learn. Eric was like Ed in miniature, personality wise and all, while Edmund was exactly like a miniature Alphonse.

Randy ran down the dirt path, grinning with his backpack slung over one shoulder. Following him closely was his friend Sagan. A black car drove up ahead. Randy pushed Rory away from the road but as he did the driver flung their door open and it hit Randy. Randy fell and someone got out of the car and grabbed Randy. The car sped off. "Randy!" Rory screamed, running after the car.

Randy was hit by the door of the car but not unconscious. Randy clapped his hands together and a mound of earth jutted up and the car sailed through the air. He clapped his hands once more and his door came clean off, allowing him to jump out. Landing a little hard but otherwise fine, Randy brushed his uniform off as the car landed on its roof behind him. "Idiots." he muttered. He turned towards his kidnappers and snapped and a torrent of flame surrounded them. "Stay right where you are or I'll barbeque you morons." Randy said, sitting on an alchemically raised pedestal of land.

Roy and Riza were enjoying the rest of their alone time before the kids got home from school when they felt a crash...coming from the direction the kids usually walked home from school. Roy ran outside and noticed that Havoc, Scar, Mrs. Bradley, and his other neighbors, were all doing the exact same thing. A tendril of smoke rose from the sky and a small figure...or rather a crowd of them, came running over. Kids rushed over to their parents. Many of the kids were screaming and shouting. Roy was alert at once. Rory came running over screaming his head off. "Rory what's wrong?" Roy asked. "Th-they took big brother! They took Randy!" he screamed. Roy handed Rory to Riza. He was not about to lose his firstborn son.

Roy noticed the smoke was coming from a car. He stopped in his tracks. The ground jutted out at an odd angle as if done by alchemy. Flames surrounded the car. _"Please don't let Randy be in there." _Roy thought desperately. He had never had to do a human transmutation to saved a loved one and he hoped he wouldn't have to. The flames suddenly ceased. Roy felt a tug on his arm. He turned around and saw Randy standing there.

"I got em Dad." Randy said. Roy hugged his son. "Um...okay dad." Randy said, confused but smiling. Randy hugged his dad back. His dad hadn't been this worried since the last time he was taken to the hospital. Or maybe since they found out that that he had asthma. Randy coughed a little because of the smoke and Roy pulled out his son's inhaler, smiling. "Thanks dad." Randy said and he pressed the button once the inhaler was in his mouth, taking a breath off it. For Randy it was normal to hold an inhaler. As they hugged, Roy asked Randy.

"Randy...are you an alchemist?" Randy paused for a moment. "Yes Dad...I am." Roy was a bit surprised to be honest. "Dad I was the one who made those flames." Randy added. "I figured about that much." Roy said, smiling.

"Dad...I want to be a state alchemist." Randy said suddenly. "No." Roy said. "Dad...I've been practicing successful alchemy for four years...that's half of my life dad." Randy begged. "You're too young." Roy said, wondering why in the world his son wanted to be a state alchemist at age eight. "Okay...then I'll be a basketball star." Randy said with a smirk. "But being a basketball star is going to turn you into a layabout." Roy said, slightly disappointed his son didn't want to shoot for a career like a doctor or something. "Can't turn me into any more of a layabout than you are." Randy said, grinning. Roy smiled and stroked his son's hair. "Let's go home before your brother screams himself mute." Roy said, carrying his son as the military arrived to arrest the strange people.

The neighbors started cheering when Roy and Randy arrived. Even Alphonse and May Chang's two year old son Rollo joined in on the applause. Elicia hugged Randy, joke among the adults was that Randy was her "boyfriend." Randy wanted to become a state alchemist to protect his family.

Little did he know he was about to get his wish for the second time in his life.


	4. Chapter 4: Sunset

**A/N: Well I am going to add in probably my first note ever that I listened to "Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park while writing this and I have come to consider it "Randy's song." It sort of reminds me of him now. Well here we go...  
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Riza got up early to wake her kids...or more specifically to wake Randy. Randy was too much like his father in that way, he would sleep through a tornado if left alone. Rory had no trouble waking up at all. Riza had to resort to firing one of her guns out the window at a tree nearby to wake Randy. "Okay mom...I'm waking up." the eight year old mumbled with not a trace of bad attitude. Randy rubbed his eyes and yawned. School would be fun, sure but he simply hated waking up. He climbed over his dad, as he had slept in his parents room that night. Rory was already gone, probably eating breakfast. Randy stretched and yawned again, glancing at his dad. "Lucky." Randy muttered under his breath.

Just then his mom walked in the room. "Roy...you told me you were waking up." she said loud enough to wake his sleeping father back up. "Five more minutes..." Roy mumbled. "Roy we've been through at least fifty cycles of 'five more minutes'. Now wake up." she said, shaking him a little. When he didn't stir, Randy saw his mom pull out a squirt bottle and turn the knob until it was set to spray a concentrated blast. Rory entered the room. "Do me the honor of helping me wake your lazy father up." Riza said to him. "Uh oh Dad...you're gonna get shot." Randy teased. Rory was a sharpshooter at his age, able to hit targets from far off with deadly accuracy and he was talented with moving targets too. Last time Randy had held a gun his only success was in being inches from destroying a birdhouse. Rory pulled the "trigger" and a blast of water hit Roy in the face. Now he was awake. "Damn..." Roy mumbled, rubbing his face. Riza left the room with Rory, who was going to finish breakfast.

Randy, still in his pajamas, hopped onto the bed and hugged his dad. They were very close to each other...probably because of how similar they were. Roy hugged his son back. "Mom can I not go to school today?" Randy begged when Riza reentered the room. "No." she said. "Please mom...I need to let myself fall behind a bit so I actually have something to do at school." Randy explained. This was true, Randy was such a prodigy that he finished all of his work almost as soon as he got it. "Just for today." Riza said. "Don't worry Mom, Dad and I will walk over to the school to escort Rory and the other kids home." Randy said cheerfully.

Randy and Roy waited until Riza headed out to the Rockbell house to go back to sleep. Randy cuddled with his dad. "Just what we wanted, huh Dad? More sleep." Randy yawned. He turned to look at his Dad, who was already asleep. "Good idea Dad." Randy mumbled, moving as close to his dad as he could.

Randy woke up about an hour or two later. His dad was sitting down on the bed, looking as if he had been awake for only five minutes. Randy hugged his dad again and hopped off the bed. He pulled open his drawer and picked clothes and he and his dad changed right there and then. Usually Riza would make Randy and Rory change in the bathroom but it did not make sense to him so he just changed there.

Randy went with his dad to Hughes' house, where he found both Mr. Hughes himself and Michael. Michael was there because for some reason Maes wanted him to be home-schooled. "Extra Father-Son bonding" Hughes had called it, although it was probably because of the small boy's health. Michael Hughes had even worse asthma than Randy did and he was also small and skinny for his age. Michael's asthma was so bad that he needed a home asthma nebulizer, something Randy had only needed at the age of six and stopped using at seven. Michael has had his nebulizer since he was two or three. Michael was also not allowed to play certain sports that required a lot of physical activity such as football. Michael couldn't even do track if he got older.

Randy played with Michael the whole time. They played with his toys except for an hour when Michael had to use his nebulizer. Randy left happy though and he could tell that Michael was happy too. Randy held his dad's hand as they walked to the school and from there they walked the other kids home. Rory told them about the coloring project he was doing in Kindergarten. He had partnered up with Selim for the project. It was a Friday thankfully so no school tomorrow anyways. Randy and Roy dropped Rory off at Selim's house because Selim had invited Rory to spend the night. Then Randy and Roy went back home. Riza was waiting for them there. Randy flopped onto the couch while his dad kissed his mom...a lot. Randy rubbed his eyes and took another look at his parents. Still kissing. He looked away, rolling his eyes. He folded his hands and sat politely on the couch. He waited another minute and glanced at them. Still kissing. "You done yet?" he asked and they suddenly remembered he was here. "Oh uh yeah...sorry." Roy said. Randy rolled his eyes at them in plain view. "You're both weird." he said, walking off.

Later in that day would come Randy's favorite part...bath time. He was a very clean kid and so he ran to the bathroom and slid inside, shutting the door behind him. Roy was taking a shower but Randy didn't care. He turned the knob which changed it from shower into a bath. "I was taking a shower." Roy said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Good for you." Randy said teasingly as he unchanged. "Then you can join me for my bubble bath." As soon as his clothes were off Randy climbed in. "Well sit down. You can't take a bath standing up." Randy said, pulling down on Roy's arm until he was sitting too. "Hey mom I'm ready!" Randy yelled. "B-but.." Roy said. "Too late." Randy said, turning to grin at him as Riza walked in. "Uh...Roy." Riza said, looking embarrassed. "He's taking a bath with me today Mom. You should like that." Randy said, grinning slyly as both of his parents turned red.

Riza started washing Randy. "Thank you mom." he said when she was done. "You missed a spot." he said, jerking his thumb backwards at Roy. "Er..." his mom said. "I-I can wash myself." Roy stammered. "Nuh-uh. That's against the rules of bubble bath time." Randy said, grinning at him. "You better clean Dad too or I'll splash both of you." Randy said. "Fine..." Riza said and she started to wash Roy. Randy started laughing. Roy turned really red, which in effect made Randy laugh harder. "Clean Dad all the way Mom...we can't afford to have him dirty." Roy turned very red again. "Hey Dad you're blushing more than Elicia was that time I gave her a flower." Randy pointed out, feigning innocence. "Uh..." Roy said, still quite red. Then Riza pulled him into a kiss. Randy smiled, amused and started playing with his bath toys.

"Okay mom you can wash my hair now." Randy said, still grinning. She did of course and Randy got no soap in his eyes. "Now all you have to is wash Dad's hair and we're done." Randy said, smiling at them. Riza washed Roy's hair too and Randy decided to pay no attention. When she was done Randy climbed out, taking with him the only towel. "Whoops." Randy said. "Come on Dad." Randy said, pulling him along behind him. After he dried himself off, which he took his time about, he dressed in his pajamas and tossed the towel on the bed. "Well I'm gonna go play outside." Randy said, pulling his red bathrobe over his small blue striped pajamas. Randy flung the door open and began to run outside. The field was beautiful, looking so perfectly green in contrast to the slowly setting sun. He saw every other door fling open and all of his friends came running out. Even Hughes arrived, following Elicia with Michael in his arms. Behind his back Randy had a flower, even more beautiful and special than any other he could find. It took a lot to find it but it was a very unique one. He ran over to Elicia and gave her the flower. Elicia was so happy she hugged him right there and then. Everyone was running to the hill now to watch the sun set. Randy got there first and he was so awed by the sight that he fell to his knees. He let the warmth of the sun envelop him. Every other kid ran to the hill and got to their knees like he did, as if they were an army assembling together, uniting as one entity altogether. Selim and Rory sat beside him. "Wow..." his little brother said, and he said nothing. He was lost for words.

Randy sighed. He just couldn't express himself like how that sunset did. The golds and pinks and reds and oranges and even a tinge of blue...he could never express himself in that many ways. Anyone else there could but him and he felt like he was being cast into shadow. "No you're just thinking too much." he thought to himself. He rose and walked over to his parents, hugging his mother and then content to stand with his father. His mother walked over to where Rory was to sit with him and Randy took his father's hand and pulled him closer to the sunset. Randy sighed. He was not like any of those kids...he was capable of holding adult conversations and doing the paperwork equivalent in age to that of a seventeen year old.

He saw a stranger on the path. He had the dark hair and the same kind of "squinty" eyes that Ling Yao had, as well as Xingese features. Randy noticed a dark crimson stain on the front of his shirt. "I...need help." he gasped, staggering over. Hughes spotted him first, running over to help him. He spoke in a rough but higher pitched voice, like that of a boy before voice maturation. He started speaking in another language rapidly. Hughes ran off. When he returned May Chang was with him. She proceeded to use some of her alkahestry. The strange youth was freaking out. He was crying but still rapidly speaking in his foreign language.

Randy went to see him later that night. "What's your name?" Randy asked him. He understood that at least. "Jay-Yo No." he said in his rough accent. Randy liked his accent. Randy liked his native language even more, when he wasn't speaking rapidly it sounded like he was speaking in a soft melody. He was only seventeen.

Later that night Randy yawned and stretched. Bed time. He leaned back on the couch. Roy saw Randy near to falling asleep on the couch and carried him to the bedroom. Randy got comfortable as soon as Roy put him in the bed. Lazy like his dad. Roy grinned looking at his son before he flopped down beside him, stroking the little boy's hair. It didn't last long. Soon Roy was asleep too. Like father, like son.


	5. Chapter 5: Departure

Randy found himself awake when it was still dark out. Five thirty in the morning. Randy let himself fall back down but found he could not go back to sleep. He wasn't tired at all. He pulled his bathrobe on. Maybe he could visit that stranger they found yesterday. Randy ran over to Hughes' house and knocked on the door. "Hey Randy...never thought I'd see you out of bed at this time!" Hughes exclaimed, letting Randy in. "Mr. Hughes...where's Jay?" Randy asked. "Who's Jay?" Hughes asked. "Um...I mean the guy we found yesterday." Randy said. "Oh him? He's right over there on the couch." Hughes added. Sure enough he was sitting there. "Jay?" Randy asked, walking over to him. Jay looked up, acknowledging his presence. "What happened?" Randy asked.

"They attacked my people." Jay said in a heavily accented voice. Randy gasped. "You speak our language?" Randy asked, eyes wide. "Of course I do! I just speak the rangruage of my country when I am frustered!" Jay exclaimed. "You mean 'language' and 'flustered' right?" Randy pointed out. "Of course I do. I have an accent." Jay snapped back. "They attacked my people." Jay repeated. "Uh...who?" Randy asked, noticing that Hughes was listening. "The evil ones. They are not from here and not from Ishval." Jay said. Jay banged his fist on the table. "They kill my family! They kill my rittle brother and sisters!" he said, and he bent his head and Randy guessed he was not far from tears. "I will kill every one of those evil bastards myself if I have to." Jay said and he threw in a few words in his own language.

Jay couldn't say anymore but he wrote it down for them. He had been celebrating a holiday of some sort with his family and then they barged in and attacked his father. His uncle grabbed him and made a run for it with his mother, and little brother and sisters. Jay's uncle was killed and Jay was stabbed. When he was conscious again he found everyone else in his family dead, including his younger brother that he was very close to and his sisters. Jay's family had been developing some sort of teleportation technique and only his father and himself knew it. He had used it to get to Resembool and that was when Randy had seen him on the path. "I tereported to the biggest power I could find." Jay added.

Just then Michael walked in the room. Jay's jaw dropped open when he saw Michael. "Rinshin." Jay said softly. Michael took a step back, surprised. "He looks like Rinshin." Jay said and he buried his face in his hands. "Come on Jay, let's go for a walk." Hughes said, leading the troubled youth outside. Michael looked glumly at Randy. "Did I do something wrong?" the little boy asked. "It's not you Michael it's just... you look like his little brother. And he can't see his little brother anymore." Randy explained. "Why?" Michael asked. "Because...because his brother is in Heaven." Randy said. "Oh." Michael replied. Gracia entered the room behind Michael, who had to use his nebulizer. "Poor boy." Gracia said after Randy quietly explained Jay's situation to her. "It's a horrible thing for anyone to go through, especially for someone as young as him." she added.

Randy decided to head home and hope his parents didn't notice he was gone. When he got home his mom was awake. "Hi mom." Randy said, hugging her. "You're up early." Riza said as she hugged Randy. "Eh." was all Randy could think of as a reply. Randy ran into his parents room and vaulted over his father. "Dad." Randy said, shaking his dad. "Shouldn't you be asleep this early in the morning?" his dad mumbled. "Not today." Randy said, bouncing up and down until Roy got up. "If it's not your mom and not your brother why does it have to be you?" Roy muttered, smirking at Randy. "Well someone has to wake you up." Randy said, smiling.

Randy stepped outside later that day, where he found and practiced alchemy with Jay. "Jay...what are you going to do?" Randy asked him. Jay stopped to think for a moment. "Join the military as soon as I get better." he said. Randy noticed that Jay's accent was not as thick when he was calm. "Why?" Randy asked. "So I can get revenge. Besides I have nothing to lose...they took everything from me." Jay muttered. Jay and Randy straightened up, surprised. They heard a blaring noise. A truck with a siren was driving around. "What's the situation?" Ed asked and several parents agreed with the question being asked. "A city far to the northen edge of Amestris has seen strange activity. We may or may not become involved in a war." the driver said before pulling away down the road. For those parents who weren't able to hear, the other parents did their job spreading the news to every adult. Randy noticed how hard Jay had been training. "That's my signal. I must join soon." Jay said. "But what about Michael and Mr. Hughes? They're going to miss you. I'll miss you." Randy said.

Jay merely glared at nobody in particular. "Meet me here later and then we'll talk." he said. Randy shrugged and walked back home. When he got there he went to take a nap with his dad and found that his dad was packing. "What are you doing?" Randy asked him. "Randy the military needs me." Roy said to his oldest son, hoping the boy would understand him. "No...you can't go." Randy said. Now Randy wasn't afraid of many things but his parents leaving and possibly never returning was the one that scared him the most. "Then I'm going too." Randy said quietly. "No you're not. You're just a kid and someone needs to take care of your mom and brother because I'm not leaving them here alone." Roy explained. "I don't care if I'm just a kid or not!" Randy snapped back. "You're either staying here or I'm going too." the boy said. "No. Just wait for me." Roy said. "No! I've had it with people telling me I'm just a kid and can't do anything. I'm not going to lose you for good dad because if I do then they can put as many bullets in me as they want!" Randy cried, storming out of the room. He ran outside and found Jay. "Change of plans." Randy muttered to Jay and he told him what they needed to do.

That night Randy felt like he was going to burst but he controlled himself well. He got out a note. "Sorry Mom and Dad, but I have to go. Take good care of Rory and stay together. I will be back as soon as they say they have no need for me. I love you Dad and don't worry...I'm not mad at you, I love you Dad. I love you too Mom and tell Rory I say the same for him as well. Take care of each other. Your son, future State Alchemist Randy Mustang." Randy left the note somewhere in plain sight. But first he hugged his mom one more time, enjoying it as long as he could. Then he hugged Rory, who was back from Selim's house. Then he finally hugged his dad. "I'm sorry." he whispered as he hugged his dad.

Randy climbed out of the window, which he locked through alchemy behind him. Waiting for him was Jay. "You ready?" Jay asked him. Randy held with him in his hand a picture of his family. He put it safely in his pocket. "Ready." he replied.

Randy and Jay hopped the midnight freight train. As Jay and Randy pulled themselves aboard they realized they were not the only ones. Five other passengers were there. One of them could have been either a teen or an adult. It was hard to tell because he had a playful look to him like that of a puppy dog. He was tall, with wild black hair and blue eyes. He nudged a smaller one that could have easily been identified as being a little younger than the first, with crazy blond hair and blue eyes. This smaller second guy was kind of serious looking. A third one also had blond hair and blue eyes, but this one had a playful grin on his face and easily looked as if he was seventeen years old. The fourth had brown hair, blue eyes and a pronounced scar on his face The final fifth passenger looked only eight, with brown hair and blue eyes. The other eight year old smiled.

Jay nodded in acknowledgement at the older guys and they did the same. Not to Randy's surprise, the tall black-haired one piped up first. "My name's Zander." he said, shaking hands with Jay. "The name's Jay. Jay Yo No." Jay said. "This is Christopher." the tall black haired one said, giving the quiet second blonde a nudge. "Tyson." the third blonde said, grinning. "Liam." the brunette said, looking up at the starry sky. "And I'm Damien." the little boy said. "You guys runnin off to join the military too?" The black haired one asked. Randy nodded. "I almost lost everything...cept my aunt and uncle and my baby cousin. And I'm not going to lose them too." Tyson said, his look changing from goofy to dead serious. Randy gaped as he saw Tyson bring his right arm out under the moonlight. It was made of automail. Zander pulled up the legs of his pants. Two automail legs. Liam removed the glove of his left hand and rolled up the sleeve a little. Automail arm. Christopher had only one right leg made of automail. "Christopher and I lost ours saving him." Zander said, motioning to Damien. Damien nodded. "And now I can do alchemy without a circle too. Like the rest of them." Damien said.

Randy stared as Jay revealed his brand new shiny right arm. How had Randy failed to notice this? He must have been so absorbed in Jay explaining his past and such that he didn't notice Jay's arm. "Jay...what..?" was all Randy could manage to say. "I did not tell you or the others how I lost my arm because I was afraid of a reaction like that." Jay said. Jay sighed. "I tried to bring Rinshin back to life. It didn't work." Jay said, putting his left hand on his automail right shoulder. Zander put a hand on Jay's other shoulder. "Don't worry Jay. You're not alone." he said and the others nodded in agreement.

While Jay talked to the boys, Randy and Damien talked. "So what kind of place did you come from?" Damien asked. "A rural place called Resembool." Randy said, smiling. Damien smiled back. "I think I went there once with my uncle before all of this happened. It was very beautiful." Damien sighed. "I want to live somewhere like that." he said. The train was speeding to a tunnel. "Stay low everybody." Zander warned. They were suddenly engulfed in near-darkness although Randy could see the outline of Damien, laying down. Randy did the same but he slowly felt himself growing sleepy until a darkness of his own came over him and he fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6 Part 1: I am Michael Hughes

**A/N: Here's your first bonus chapter and part 1 of Chapter 6. One chapter that is centered around Maes Hughes' sickly young son, Michael Hughes.**

Everyone was looking for Randy...ever since six in the morning or so. He had disappeared. Michael wished to go help, but he knew he would only make it harder. For one thing, Michael couldn't run...well he could, but only if he had used his nebulizer two hours beforehand and he had to use it for two hours after. For another thing, Michael couldn't do much looking for Randy. He couldn't go too far from home without Daddy or someone else to carry him back so he didn't get out of breath. And for another, Michael was sick with a sore throat. And no matter how small it was, whenever Michael got sick with anything, even a cold, Mommy and Daddy told him that he had to stay in the house. Michael had gone outside with only a bad cold once and he ended up having to go to the hospital.

Michael hadn't liked the hospital at all. His special doctor, Dr. Ayres, was nice and gave him small toys and lollipops and called him a good boy and always told him good things, like if he had gotten a little bit better. No, Dr. Ayres was not the reason why he didn't like the hospital. He didn't like the hospital because every time he went there he was usually sick or hurting and they would put him on this weird rolling bed thing and run to a room and everyone was talking really fast and worried-like and it scared him bad. Then when they got him to the room they hooked him up to all sorts of machines to help him. The machines scared him. Michael liked his home nebulizer because it was small and friendly in his mind, and if he looked at it carefully his nebulizer looked like it had a smiley face, like it was telling him that it would help him get better. The machines there were bigger and weirder looking and he wasn't used to them, where Michael had grown used to his nebulizer because he always used it at least three times a day, every day. Once when he woke up, once in the middle of the day, and once before he went to sleep. Unless he woke up crying or coughing, then Daddy would grab him and run to the nebulizer but that didn't happen a lot.

Michael's sore throat got the best of him and he started crying. Immediately his mommy ran over to comfort him, followed by Elicia. Michael loved his big sister Elicia, because she always played with him when he was lonely and sick at home, or even when he was not really sick but kind of everyday-sick because of his asthma. "Are you okay Mikey?" Elicia asked. He nodded, still tearing up but no longer fully crying. "My throat hurts." Michael said. Elicia nodded "I got something for you...wait here with Mommy!" Elicia said, running to the kitchen. Michael watched as she came running back. "Here Mikey!" she said, giving him a juice box. It was full of apple juice, his favorite. "Thank you." Michael said, drinking from it. Michael half-hugged Elicia. Elicia always knew that apple juice made Michael's throat feel better.

Just then Scar showed up with Sagan. Michael liked Sagan too, because Sagan didn't like running around so much as the other kids, he liked reading more and reading was one of the things that it was okay for Michael to do all the time. Sagan was also always nice to Michael. Apparently Sagan was going to stay with them because Scar was joining the search party. Michael didn't understand why it was called a search party. Perhaps they would all throw a party when they found Randy. Michael certainly would too. He missed Randy a lot, because he heard Daddy and Roy talking about having Daddy teach Randy too, because Randy was too smart for the school. That had made Michael happy, because Michael really liked Randy. Randy always played with him, or read him a book, or told him a story.

So Elicia and Sagan went to play in Elicia's room. "What story do you want me to read to you?" Mommy asked Michael. Michael had a lot of stories. "Uh...um...Peter Pan." the little boy decided. Peter Pan was his favorite, because Peter Pan could fly and he beat the evil pirates every time, and also Peter Pan could always to a magical place called Neverland, where no one ever grew up. Michael liked to close his eyes when his Mommy was reading the part about flying, so he could pretend he was flying too. Sometimes he and Elicia played Peter Pan and he would be Peter Pan and Elicia would be Wendy and Daddy or Randy would be Captain Hook. Yes...Peter Pan was Michael's favorite story, and there was a little boy in the story named Michael. But Michael also loved Pinocchio too. One time Daddy and Mommy took him and Elicia to see the Pinocchio movie, and Michael had been so excited because he had never seen a movie before. Michael loved the Pinocchio movie.

So Mommy read to him and he begged her for another story. "Which one?" his mommy asked. "Uh...Hansel and Gretel." Michael replied. He always liked reading Hansel and Gretel, and he always wondered what it would be like if he was Hansel and Elicia was Gretel. Just as his mommy was reading the end of the story, Michael fell asleep. He was tired from his sore throat and all the excitement had gotten to the little boy.


	7. Chapter 6 Part 2: What it takes

It was still dark out when Randy awoke to a shaking sensation. Jay was shaking him. "Jay...wha-" the boy started but Jay cut him off. "C'mon Randy, wake up! We're almost at East City." Jay was saying. Randy saw a sleepy-looking Damien rubbing his eyes. Zander had all of their stuff packed away. Everyone grabbed a pack, clipping it to their back. "What are we doing?" Randy asked. "We're hopping the train, of course." Tyson replied. Jay grabbed Randy, handing him to Christopher and Randy saw Liam grab Damien. "Ready everyone?" Zander asked. "Ready." Everyone said collectively. "Alright, Christopher you jump first with Randy, and I want Jay right after. Now go!" Zander cheered. Randy watched as they neared the right side of the train. There was a lot of grass and hills around here, not quite as much as Resembool but still kind of nice. Randy held his breath. This was maybe the most dangerous thing he had done yet. Christopher adjusted Randy to the back, in between his back and the pack so that the boy would not get hurt.

Randy watched as Christopher securely strapped and buckled his pack to him. Randy could feel Christopher's muscles tense and the young man finally jumped, clearing the danger zone and landing on the ground easily. Randy saw the train, still a blur but it almost felt...great, like just a tiny taste of flying. Christopher sprinted beside the train, with Randy still strapped onto the back. Randy saw Jay go flying off the train, landing and joining them with the running. The next ones to jump were Liam and Damien, followed by Tyson. Last but not least, Zander jumped off spectacularly. Randy was switched from being strapped onto Christopher's back to Zander's and Damien was switched to Tyson's back. "Alright guys, we got a bit of walking to do." Zander said cheerfully.

It was an understatement...they had a LOT of walking to do. The sun was rising when they finally reached East City. "Well guys we're going to take the test as soon as we get there...so fate can fly us to our destiny." Zander said. "Yeah!" everyone yelled, agreeing. They were nearing the building in no time. "I'm still wondering why the exam is in East City and not Central this year...hasn't it been in Central for some five years now?" someone in the street said. Randy heard yelling and he looked up. Two small wolf puppies were running rampant, a piece of meat in each pup's mouth and a man with a broom chasing them. Randy felt compassion for the pups, he had always liked animals, especially dogs. Missing his Black Hayate who was his own dog back home and also Den, he picked up the pups. "Here, I'll pay for the meat." Randy said, dropping all of his pocket money, which was barely enough, into the man's hand to pay for the stolen meat and he was able to buy a little more. "Why did you do that?" Damien asked him. Randy smiled down at the pups. "Well because they're hungry and all alone. I would have done the same thing if I were them." Randy said, carefully feeding the puppies small portions of the meat, to make it last. The small wolf pups looked up at him and both licked his face. "You little guys aren't dangerous at all, are you?" Randy asked, feeding them more. The puppies snapped at the meat but were careful not to bite Randy. The others just stared at him, dumbfounded. "I told you he was an animal magnet, I really did see a hawk land in front of him." Jay muttered. It was true, but Randy had assumed that everyone attracted animals though. Randy had taken long walks before and had come across bears and snakes and birds and such, and they had seemed to like him. "I guess I have to name you little guys...how about Ken'ichi and Nobuo?" Randy said. The pups yipped a little. "That will do then." Randy said, grinning. When they came to the building, Randy gave the pups to Zander. "I'm going in." Randy said, smiling confidently. "You can do it!" Zander said encouragingly. Randy smiled at him. "I know I can." Randy replied, turning to walk to the examination area.

****Some time later****

It was afternoon when Randy returned. Zander was watching the pups. "Ken'ichi! Nobuo!" he called. The pups came running, barking and yipping happily. The bigger one, Ken'ichi, reached him first, with Nobuo, the slightly runtier one behind him. Damien was waiting. "What happened, are you...wow!" Damien exclaimed as Randy pulled out a shiny new State Alchemist's watch. Damien pulled out his own and both boys grinned at each other. "What's your name?" Randy asked Damien. "Four Winds Alchemist, cuz I'm best with wind based-alchemy you know." Damien said. "What's yours?" Damien asked in response. "Reborn Flame Alchemist. Suits me perfectly, my dad's the Flame Alchemist." Randy replied. "Are you kidding me? _The _Flame Alchemist?" Damien asked. Randy nodded. "We're the only three kids our age admitted...there's one other boy around here somewhere that also made it." Damien explained. Just then Ken'ichi and Nobuo started growling, then barking at one of those cars in front of East HQ. "Ken'ichi? Nobuo? What is i-"

Randy was cut off as the car exploded. Fortunately no one in the area seemed harmed, except one man, who was already being assisted. "Hey look!" Randy pointed. A suspicious looking man was walking towards the alleyways, looking unfazed while everyone else was shocked. "I bet that's our guy!" Damien hissed. Both Randy and Damien glanced in his direction. "That's gotta be our guy, did you see how he acted? You think he'd be acting like he was surprised too, I mean seriously...what kind of people ignore explosions in front of a military HQ. As if he didn't look obviously involved enough already, he just had to act like it was any ordinary Sunday stroll." Randy said as they ran towards the alleys. A third boy suddenly appeared as if he had dropped from the sky, sprinting ahead of them. " I suppose that's the other guy our age that passed?" Randy queried. Damien nodded as they ran. "Most likely." Damien replied. A bunch of bandits appeared. "Oh come on!" Randy said. The bandits cornered them and the other boy as the man turned.

"Well well well, lookit what we gots ourselves here. Some nosy little brats who wanna go after the boss!" one bandit exclaimed. "Why is this whole thing starting to feel like de-ja-vu?" Damien asked. "Oh please, you're telling me that idiot is your boss?" the other boy snapped. "Looks like this little brat's got no respect for his elders. How about we clean up his attitude for him?" another bandit suggested. They closed in. "Looks we gotta fight our way out." Randy said. "I'm Darren Liu, nice to meet you." the other boy said quickly. Both Damien and Randy knew what that meant, they should team up to beat the big boss. "I'm Randy and that's Damien." Randy said quickly. "Let's get this party started." Darren said, grinning. "Let's go!" Randy yelled and the three boys began to attack.

****Some thirty minutes later****

"Seems you three are proving to us that three eight year old State Alchemists really can beat up a bunch of men older than thirty." the MP said as they took the leader away. "You'll never get away with this you meddling punks!" the man yelled at them as he was being dragged away. "Why do the bad guys always have to say something so cliche? Aren't any of you guys smart enough to think up something original?" Damien asked. The man looked angry but he was silenced by the MPs. Darren pulled his baseball cap low over his eyes. "See you around, Four Winds and Reborn Flame." Darren said, striding off. "Wait...how did he know that? We never told him our State Alchemist names." Damien said as Darren strode out of sight.

They entered the new apartment that had been provided for them. Randy and Jay shared one apartment, with Liam, Tyson and Damien as their adjoining neighbors. Zander and Christopher got a room just across from theirs. "Thank you." Randy said to Jay, noticing two rather large doggy beds. Nobuo was already curled up in his, fast asleep. Ken'ichi yawned, stretched and got comfortable in his own doggy bed. Randy decided it was time for him to do the same. After a quick dinner, Randy fell fast asleep in his new bed so far away from home.


	8. Chapter 7: The Chimera

Randy sighed, letting his head rest against his desk, a small pile of papers in front of him. Even though he was a genius, he could be a lazy, unmotivated one at that. Randy had not picked up on his mother's healthy work ethics. Instead, he found himself inheriting his father's laziness and ability to procrastinate like a champ. Rory would have gotten right to work if these were his papers. But Randy merely stared at them. "Ah jeez, why do we get paperwork? I thought all we had to do was take down bad guys." Randy muttered. Jay had a slightly bigger pile, as he did not understand it all quite well. If the papers had been in Ryksanese he would have understood them better, as Jay himself hailed from the country of Ryksa, which was near Xing.

Randy heard a knock on the door and got up eagerly to answer it. He was shocked as he opened the door. The man standing in front of the door...or rather the _boy _that was in front of the door, looked like his father quite a lot. Randy blinked again and realized it was not. This boy was quite obviously younger looking, but had to be in his late teens. This boy's black hair also was messier than his father's. The boy had a mischievous grin on his face. "Hiya there. You Randy Mustang?" the boy asked, and Randy noted that the boy's voice was higher pitched and more immature sounding than his father's, of course. "Yeah." Randy said, nodding in an unsure manner. The boy grinned. "I'm Ralph Mustang. Nice to meet you!" he said. Randy gaped. "What, did your father never tell you that you have an uncle?" he asked. Randy shook his head. "Ah well. You can call me Uncle Ralph if you want. I'm twenty-four, how about you?" he asked. Randy was almost skeptical, he looked young for twenty-four. "Eight and a half." Randy replied. "Hey kid...you got friends here right?" Ralph asked. Randy nodded. "Okay well grab some of 'em cuz I need help...the kind of help that will get that paperwork over there out of your hands." Ralph said.

They left a note for the others. Jay, Randy and Damien left with Ralph. "Okay guys...be warned. This place has seen some really screwy things in the past few years. And I've been sent to investigate by some divine blessing." Ralph muttered in a way that utterly reminded Randy of Edward Elric. They were walking through East City, to go to this place when suddenly they heard a roar. "Goddamnit." Ralph muttered, turning around. There was a weird croco-gator lion thing. A chimera, Randy recalled. Damien stared and Jay looked indifferent. The thing was smashing stuff everywhere and causing a panic. "And I thought Shou Tucker was the only breeder of the macabre." Ralph mumbled.

The thing roared right in their direction. "Okay jeez! We're coming to fight you, don't get your panties in a bunch!" Ralph yelled, pissing it off even more. It roared back more ferociously. "Oh he's ready to tango." Ralph muttered. Ralph ran towards the thing and clapped his hands against a wall, and the earth rose and crackled around the thing, one piece of land that rose caught it in the chest and really pissed it off. "Ay Layton! Show this sucker what you got!" Ralph yelled. A boy of about fourteen or fifteen hopped off the roof. He had only slightly messy black hair, with a purple piece of cloth tied around in front of his forehead like a headband. He was wearing all black clothes, cool-looking armored gloves and boots.

Layton clapped his hands together. With his left arm extended towards the chimera, his left hand in a fist, he placed the three longest fingers of his right hand on the armored back of his left. A beam of energy quickly materialized and flew at the creature, hitting it. Randy stared, agape. There was not a single special marking on Layton's gloves. Ralph moved forward, clapping his hands together as well and sliding one hand forward quickly. Fire shot out at the creature. Jay moved forward, clapping his hands together. He then cupped his hands as lightning appeared in his hands...his famous Lightning Ball Blitz that Randy had heard was used during his State Alchemist stepped in, snapping and making fire shoot at the chimera, fire in the shape of a dragon. Damien used his Roaring Winds Alchemy to strengthen the fire.

-Meanwhile in Resembool-

Only two days later in Resembool, Edward Elric was picking up a newspaper at the station. He was reading up on the war lately and it would really come in handy. He headed home. He lived with Winry and the kids and Pinako in their longtime home, relinquishing the Elric home which was his original choice to Al. As he reached home he was about to open up his paper at the breakfast table when he gaped. "Winry! Auntie Pinako! Come look at this!" Ed yelled. They did, hearing the shock in Edward's voice and they gaped too.

_YOUNG ALCHEMISTS SAVE EAST CITY FROM CHIMERA, _the front page of the paper read. "Read it." Winry commanded. Ed obliged, eager to read it himself. _"Just two days ago a large chimera was spotted in East City, ravaging the town in a path of rabid fury."_ Ed read aloud, wondering who the guy that wrote this was. "Go on." Winry pushed. _"It seemed as though nobody was able to stop it, and that it would continue unleashing its fury on the civilians when five young alchemists arrived on the scene to stop it. One of these alchemists, 24 year old Ralph Mustang, was already known by the civilians for his dogged determination in protecting their city with fervor. Ralph led the assault on the creature using various attacks, including raising the earth around it without a transmutation circle, as well as a fire attack with his hands unlike any that we've seen from his older brother, who turns out to be Roy Mustang, the famous Flame Alchemist." _Ed's jaw dropped open and he paused. "I didn't know the General had a brother..." Ed mused. Winry snatched the paper from Ed and continued reading.

_"Assisting him at once was a former colleague of his, a quiet and rather solemn 14 year old boy by the name of Layton Gates. Gates is known among the townspeople quite well, as his father Gideon Gates is said to be one of the world's greatest heroes and Layton seems to be following in his father's footsteps. Layton used several moves of his own, including his father's famed move, Gon Ichi Sengen, which enables the user to shoot beams of energy from the user's hand. This was also used without a transmutation circle, which is fairly complex and deemed impossible for an alchemist so young to learn. As soon as Gates stepped into the battle, three new State Alchemists entered the fray with the dangerous creature. One of them, a 17 year old Ryksanese boy named Jay Yo-No_...what?" Winry read. Pinako was next to take the paper as Ed and Winry were dumbfounded.

_"One of them, a 17 year old Ryksanese boy with the alias Jay Yo-No, was next to enter the battle, using a move he called Lightning Ball Blitz. Yo-No (a pet form of his last name Yashanuma) was accompanied by two underage alchemists who used fire and wind to assist, both named Randall "Randy" Mustang and Damien Alexiou respectively."_ At these words Ed and Winry were gaping even more...it looks as if they had found Randy.

"_The young alchemists boldly saved the town. It is to be noted that the uncle-nephew tag team of Ralph Mustang and Randy Mustang combined their own fire techniques, with Randy using a normal colored flame dragon and Ralph duplicating Randy's dragon only made of blue fire. One can only wonder why the boy's uncle was fighting alongside him, rather than his father. Before we could get more information, all five of them left without a trace." _Pinako finished.

"Well...I guess we found Randy." Ed mumbled. "ED! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Winry yelled. "What do you mean?" Ed grumbled back, slightly annoyed. "GO TELL THEM!" Winry shouted. "Why do I have to?" Ed snapped back. Winry tossed a wrench at him. Pinako rolled her eyes. Just then she saw her grandsons Eric and Edmund playing with Den. "Eric? Edmund?" she asked. "Yes Granny?" the two boys replied sweetly. "Will you two take Den and get this message to Mr. Hughes? He'll know where to take it." Pinako asked, rolling up the newspaper. "No problem." Eric said, grinning and looking so much like Ed. "We know what to do Granny." said Edmund, who looked like a small version of Alphonse. She smiled. "Let's go!" Eric cried.

Maes Hughes was sitting at home, enjoying his time with Michael when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it. It was the Elric boys. "Hey there Mr. Hughes. Granny got a message for you." Edmund said, handing Maes the newspaper. Maes saw it and read it at once. "Thank you boys. Come in and play with Michael." he offered and the boys (and Den) took the offer up at once. Maes went to his phone and dialed a number. "Hello?" Roy answered, sleepily. "Roy, I think Ed might have found Randy." Maes said. There was an odd silence. "Um...Roy?" Maes asked. Maes waited for a minute but then there was a knock on his door so he hung up. Sure enough, it was Roy at his door. "What about Randy?" Roy asked suddenly alert. Maes merely handed his friend the paper. Roy's eyes went wide. "H-how did?" Roy asked and it hit Maes at once.

"Of course...you know how we found two sets of footprints that ended at the train tracks?" Maes asked. "Yeah." Roy said, nodding. It had bothered him that Randy and Jay had been near something that was quite dangerous in the darkness of the night. "Randy and Jay must have hopped the midnight freight train." Maes reasoned. "They probably met that Damien Alexiou kid mentioned with them on that train, and quite a few others I imagine. Then when they passed their State Alchemist exams, word spread and your brother went to investigate." Maes said. Roy smirked. "Typical of my brother...he probably felt like I was shunning him so instead of telling me he found my eight year old son in East City he decided to take matters into his own hands." Roy said. Maes nodded. "I suppose it's about time we got Randy back."

Getting Randy back would not be so easy. Randy and his friends were walking through the streets at night when the Granzon soldiers attacked East City, marking their first major attack. Explosions...lights...chaos. Randy tried running but he fell behind the others due to the crowd. A Granzon soldier recognized him...he must be the General's brat. The man moved quietly behind him and hit the kid over the head. Randy felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and he knew no more. The Granzon soldier picked him up and carried him. This kid would make a fine tool for the war to come.

Maes noticed something was up with Roy that night...he seemed uncharacteristically jumpy and nervous. Maes wondered why. Riza and Rory were with them, and neither of them were acting out of the usual at all. Maes was about to offer Roy a drink when Roy winced in pain."Ow!" he said, rubbing the back of his head. "What is it?" Maes asked his friend at once. "I don't know...call me crazy but it feels like I got hit in the back of the head with something." Roy replied.


End file.
